Wheel assembly and cover therefor



April 14, 1942. T. AuDAVENPORT WHEEL ASSEMBLY AND COVER THEREFOR Filec}Aug. 5, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet l I N VEN TOR ATTORNEY April 14, 1942.

- T. A. DAVENPORT 2,279,704 WHEEL ASSEMBLY AND COVER THEREFOR Filed Aug.5, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lllu \IIII II.

Patented Apr. 14,

UNITED STATES PATENT orncs WHEEL ASSEMBLY AND COVER THEREFOR Talmon A.Davenport, Detroit, Mien, assignor to Budd Wheel Company, Philadelphia,Pa., a

ring as seen from the rear.

corporation of Pennsylvania Application August s. 1939, Serial No.288,487

' 6 Claims.

The invention relates to wheel covers and more particularly to suchcovers adapted to be secured to the periphery of a wheel. Morespecifically.

the invention is directed to the securement of a trim ring to cover theouterface of the rims It is an object of my invention to provide a coveror trim ring and securing means therefore which permits the cover to beeasily snappedinto.

place and when in place it is securely held.-

Another object of my invention is'to provide a cover and securing meanstherefore which is simple in construction and economical to manufactureand at the same time ornamental in appearance.

These and other objects and advantages and the manner ,in which they areattained will become apparent from the following detailed descriptionwhen read in connection with the drawings forming a part of thisspecification.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a front perspective view of a wheel having the inventionapplied thereto.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged front elevational view,

' thereof with parts of the cover brokenaway.

segment of the cover or trim ring detached.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view through the wheel as indicated bythe line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view of a portion of the periphery of the wheelas seen from the rear.

Fig. '7 is a fragmentary perspective view of the Fig. 8 late fragmentaryring.

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the periphery of thering provided with cushioning means.

The invention has been shown, applied to a wheel having a sheet metalbody II of the disc type secured to radial hub flange Ii, by securingbolts, as it. The central portion of the wheel may be covered by a hubcap as It secured inwhich bathe usual anti-skid chain securing (CI.41-10) Y slots although the openings between spokes in is formed by thebase of the rim l5 sides of the slots are inclined outwardly circumthecase of a spoked wheel body would serve equally well for the purposes ofthe present invention.

In the present embodiment. the slotted openings ii are formed ascircumferentially wideradially narrow slots, the radially outerslde ofwhich and the ferentially toward the rim, see Fig. 2 forming arelatively sharp angle betweenthe sides of'the slot and the rim base.

The ornamental ring 51, according to this embodiment of the invention,comprises a generally frusto-conical annulus of sheet metal designed toextend from its outer margin, having an inturned flange i8 disposedbeneath the outer edge flange it of the rim, to its inner margin seatedagainst the wheel body it. Thus it masks the entire outer face of therim and the outer periphcry of the wheel body upon which the rim seats.In cross section, this annulus may have any desired ornamentalconfiguration. In the instant case, it is shown' formed with a pluralityof shallow beaded-formations 2|! of substantially uniiorm width and theouter periphery of the hub 1 cap is similarly'contoured, thus giving avery pleasing appearance to the ensemble.

Since, in manufacturing, the location between 1 wheel body and rim maybe held fairly constant,

. but the rim profile may vary considerably with relation to the wheelbody, the trim ring is formed J and secured so that it seats against thewheel plan view of a modified body only, while its outer margin may beslightly spaced from the outer edge flange IQ of the'rim.

This slight spacing-does not detract at all from 'theappearance, andpermits the securing means to act more efflciently.

To secure the cover ring to the wheel, there are provided on its innermargin a plurality of springclips 2 y be fabricated iromsuitable springwire,

a clip comprises an arcuate base portion 22 cohforming to' the innermargin of the ring and secured thereto by 9. rolled over head it andlater-.

ally extending portions It extending axially in-' wardly and withangularly related cam portions Iiand it. The laterally extendingportions 26 are spaced apart so that their inner cam portions 28 engagein the ansleformed between the sides of the slots II and the rim basewith a wedging action to securely hold the ring in place withits innermargin bottoming on the wheel body.

The ring is. moved into secured, position by forcing it axially towardthe wheel body. the

As shown in Figs. 1 to '7 the clips may and each s outer cam portion 28of the clips engaging the 7 sides or the slots and being cammed aside bythe axial pressure on the ring until the apices of the angles formed bythe cam portions 25 and 26 snap past the side edges of the slots, whenthe oppositely inclined cam portions 25 come into play to lock the coversecurely on the wheel.

The cover can be readily removed by releasing the clips from the insideof the wheel or by inserting a suitable prying tool under the margin iof the rim, and prying it oil from the outside.

In the modification of Figs. 8- and 9, the U-shaped clips 21 havea'relatively short base portion 28 extending about the width of a slotII,

the laterally extending portions 29 of each clip being adapted tocooperate with the opposite sides of a slot similarly to the portions24. In this case the base 28 of the clip is again secured to the innermargin of ring I 1 by spaced rolled over beads 30 arranged on oppositesides or a U bend 3| in the base portion which U bend cooperates withthe body of the ring to hold the v shown in 'bility of noise due to suchengagement.

It will be understood that while the invention has been shownanddescribed as applied to a rim cover, itis suitable for use with othertypes of covers associated with the outer face or a wheel and suchcovers are intended to be included within the spirit and scope of theappended claims.

What I claim is? 1. In combination with a disc wheel body and rimassembly having spaced circumferentially extending slots adjacent theperiphery of said assembly with the rim forming the outer wall of saidslots, of an ornamental ring applied to the outside face of said discand rim assembly and wire spring clips having arcuate base portionsconforming in curvature to the curvature oi a margin of the ring, andlaterally extending locking projections. the base portions beingpositively locked to said margin of the ring by curledover portions orsaid margin and the laterally projecting portions having interlockingengagement'with the circumterentially'spaced sides or the slots to holdthe ring in place.

2. In combination with a disc wheel body and' a rim secured thereto,said wheel body having spaced openings between the wheel body and rim,of an ornamental cover masking at least a portion of the'outer face orsaid assembly, and spring clips each having an arcuate base portionconforming to the curvature of, and secured to, a peripheral margin ofsaid cover by a rolled over portion or said margin positively lockingsaid base portion to the cover, and laterally projecting lockingportions from said base portion engaging the circumferentially spacedsides of said openings to secure the cover in place.

4. In combination with a wheel body and rim assembly. said wheel bodyhaving spaced openings in its periphery adjacent the rim, oi! anornamentaltrim ring having its outer margin disposed under a portion orthe rim. the inner margin of said ring having securing clips arranged toengage the circumrerentially spaced sides of said openings witha camaction to seat the inner margin of the ring firmly against the wheelbody and rim assembly.

5. The combination according to claim 4 in which cushioning means toprevent metal to metal contact are. provided between the outer margin ofthe ring and the rim.

'6. The combination according to claim 1 in which the sides of the slotseach terminate in acute angles with the apices of which the clipswedgingly engage.-

TALMON A. DAVENPORT.

